Glass-Panel Scans

I had the pleasure of lunch several years ago with one of the designers of the Boeing 777 cockpit. She said something that has stuck with me for years: Good design obviates the need for training. Held up to this standard, our efforts for GA glass cockpits are a dismal failure. (Perhaps the 777 cockpit is as well; I dont know.)

jwanwest

Tuesday, December 02, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots transitioning to glass cockpits must adapt their scanning techniques by focusing on new visual cues like specific triangles for precise pitch/roll and utilizing altitude/heading bugs for quick checks instead of solely reading numerical values.
An effective glass cockpit scan should integrate "track" (actual path over ground) for proactive course corrections and maintain methodical checks even when the autopilot is engaged to preserve hand-flying skills.
Maximizing glass cockpit utility involves strategically organizing auxiliary display information and exercising self-discipline to narrow the scan to critical elements during crucial phases like final approach, while also practicing flying solely with backup instruments.

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I had the pleasure of lunch several years ago with one of the designers of the Boeing 777 cockpit. She said something that has stuck with me for years: “Good design obviates the need for training.” Held up to this standard, our efforts for GA glass cockpits are a dismal failure. (Perhaps the 777 cockpit is as well; I don’t know.)

Looking just at the Primary Flight Display (PFD) portion of a system like the Avidyne Entegra or the Garmin G1000, things fare a bit better. Pilots competent on traditional flight instruments can find most of what they need in a few minutes. Some things take some explaining—”Where’s my rate of turn on this infernal thing?”—but keeping the plane upright is never in doubt.